Eye assembly for pivoted fasteners



April 19, 1$55 w. c; WHITTLESEY EYE ASSEMBLY FOR PIVOTED FASTENERS Filed May 26, 1954 INVENTOR. HfQ ZS/L C. Wkittleseq.

ATTUR N iY United States Patent EYE ASSEMBLY FOR PIVOTED FASTENERS Welsh C. Whittlesey, Holliston, Mass., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Application May 26, 1954, Serial No. 432,623

3 Claims. (Cl. 20--92.7)

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to resiliently mounted eyes or keepers of the type usually employed in connection with fasteners for refrigerator panels in which hooks are pivotally and slidably mounted so as to first engage the eye and then apply traction thereto for the purpose of drawing the edges of adjacent panels into sealing contact with an interposed gasket to prevent the passage of ambient air into the refrigerator.

A primary object of the invention is to devise a simplified eye assembly of the type referred to in which the several parts thereof may be stamped from sheet metal and readily and cheaply assembled for installation in a refrigerator.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a simplified one piece bolster construction which may be stamped up from sheet metal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of the adjacent edges of a pair of refrigerator panels about to be joined together;

Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view through a pair of joined panels; and,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail the numerals 1 and 2 indicate two tongue and groove panels respectively. These panels are usually provided with insulation material (not shown) and encased in sheet metal sections 3 and enclosed at their edges by strips of wood or the like 4. The wood strip 4 of the panel 1 is formed into a tongue 5 while the panel 2 is provided with side ribs 6 forming a groove 7 which receives the tongue 5. Interposed between the panels are gaskets 8 provided with lateral wings or fins 9 which are clamped to the body of the panel by metal strips 10. This construction of the panel members is more or less conventional and forms no part of the present invention except that the eye assembly and the pivoted and slidable hook of the fastener are mounted within the end strips 4.

The eye assembly of the present invention includes among its three elements an eye portion 11 formed of sheet metal and bent upon itself so that its ends are brought into flat engagement as indicated by the numeral 12 and formed with an eye opening 13. The intermediate portion of the sheet metal strip is formed up into a substantially rectangular open-ended sleeve for a purpose to be later described.

Another element of the eye or keeper assembly is a bolster 14 which is also stamped up from sheet metal and includes a pair of end plates 15 located in the same plane and having their inner or adjacent support edges spaced apart a distance corresponding approximately, or at least as great as, the width of the sleeve 11 and indicated by the numeral 16. These plates 15 have their outer edges turned upwardly to form flanges 17 and the plates are connected by integral side flanges 18 tapered upwardly and terminating in inturned flanges 19 which overhang the space 16 between the plates 15.

An arcuate leaf spring 20 is employed for imparting the desired tension on the eye portion 12, and the upturned flanges 17 on the plates 15 serve as stops to limit outward movement of the ends of the leaf spring 20 when the hook and eye are engaged and draw the panels into sealing relationship with the gasket 8.

In assembling the three elements of the keeper the sleeve 11 of the eye portion 12 is passed through the space 16 between the plates 15 and into engagement with the overhanging flanges 19 of the bolster. Thereafter the spring 20 is inserted into the substantially rectangular sleeve 11 with its ends adjacent the respective upturned flanges 17 of the plates 15, thereby interlocking the several parts into their operative relationship as clearly indicated in Figures 2 and 3.

In order that the combined eye assembly may be installed in the end strip 4 of its panel, the strip is provided with an opening 21 into which the eye portion 12 is extended so as to be exposed at the outer edge of the panel for engagement by the pivoted and slidable hook of the fastener. And, for the purpose of permitting free swinging movement of the hook of the fastener arcuate slots 22 are formed in the end strip 4 and communicate with the opening 21 so that the hook will be readily brought into engagement with the forward edge of the eye opening 13.

The eye assembly is secured in position in its opening 21 by means of a pair of bolts 23 which pass through openings provided therefor in the strip 4 and threadedly engage openings 24 formed in the pair of spaced plates 15.

The pivoted and slidable hook for engagement with the eye 12 is indicated by the numeral 25 and is mounted in the panel 2 in a plane substantially corresponding to the pllalne in which the eye assembly is mounted in the pane The operation of the device will be readily understood since it is only necessary that the hook 25 be swung about its pivot into engagement with the inner edge of the eye 13 after which the two edges of the panel are drawn tightly together so as to compress the gasket 8 into sealing engagement with the adjoining edges of the panel as indicated in Figure 2, and permanent compression of the gaskets is created by the pressure of leaf spring 20 against the outer wall of the sleeve 11 by reason of the tension applied to the spring when the panels are drawn together in the operation of the latch.

While the preferred form of the invention has been described herein, in accordance with the patent statutes, it is apparent that various minor changes may be made in structural details without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A keeper assembly for pivoted latches, comprising an eye portion formed of sheet metal doubled upon itself to provide a fiat end portion having an eye opening therein, the intermediate portion of the material being shaped to provide a substantially rectangular open-ended sleeve, a bolster stamped from sheet metal to provide a pair of spaced plate sections, the space between the sections being at least as great as the width of the eye portion, integral side flanges extending upwardly from the plate sections and uniting the same, inturned flanges on said side flanges overhanging the space between said plate sections, said eye portion being mounted in the space between the plate sections, and an arcuate leaf spring having its mid-portion disposed in the sleeve and its ends in engagement with the respective plate sections.

2. A keeper assembly for pivoted latches, comprising an eye portion formed of sheet metal doubled upon itself to provide a flat end portion having an eye opening therein, the intermediate portion of the material being shaped to provide a substantially rectangular open-ended sleeve, a bolster stamped from sheet metal to provide a pair of spaced plate sections, upturned end flanges on the outer ends of the plate sections, the space between the sections being at least as great as the width of the eye portion, integral side flanges extending upwardly from the plate sections and uniting the same, inturned flanges on said side flanges overhanging the space between said plate sections, said eye portion being mounted in the snace between the plate sections, and an arcuate leaf spring having its mid-portion disposed in the sleeve and its ends in engagement with the respective plate sections.

3. A keeper assembly for pivoted latches, comprising an eye portion formed of sheet metal doubled upon itself to provide a flat end portion having an eye opening therein, the intermediate portion of the material being shaped to provide a substantially rectangular open-ended sleeve, a bolster stamped from sheet metal to provide a pair of spaced plate sections, the space between the sections being at least as great as the width of the eye portion, 0

integral side flanges extending upwardly from the plate sections and uniting the same, said side flanges being tapered upwardly and terminating in inturned flanges overhanging the space between said plate sections, said eye portion being mounted in the space between the plate sections, and an arcuate leaf spring having its mid-portion disposed in the sleeve and its ends in engagement with the respective plate sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,250,574 Ferris Dec. 18, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 77,088 Switzerland Nov. 12, 1919 561,248 Germany Oct. 12, 1932 

